Histoires de bois

At a time when the benefits and excesses of modernity were being examined in the rear-view mirror, it seemed to us that it would be interesting to bring certain Québec contemporary artists face to face with the tradition with woodworking and the expertise that subsists in the Saint-Jean-Port-Joli region. This workshop and exhibition project was set up by Les Studios d’été de Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, an independent group composed of Johanne Blanchette, Jean-Pierre Bourgault, Jacques Doyon, Roberto Pellegrinuzzi, and Michel Saulnier. The event, which took place from June 15 to August 15, 1988, was intended to be different from those that usually take place in rural regions: not a public, spectacular event to show off current art from the city or compare it to regional practices, but a workshop encouraging a confrontation between the foundations of and exchanges between two art traditions.